Serbian Forces ‘On Full Alert’ After Kosovo Police Raids

Published by Balkan Insight on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 13:33

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday that his country's army and police are fully combat-ready to protect Serbs in northern Kosovo in the event of any violence against them by Kosovo's forces.

"We are aware of the hard and terrible consequences, and because of that we will continue to work on keeping the peace," Vucic said, but added that Serbian forces are ready to "protect people in the shortest possible time" if there is an attempt to attack them.

His angry reaction came after Kosovo police launched raids in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the Serb-majority north of the divided town of Mitrovica, saying they were targeting organised crime suspects after a lengthy investigation.

However Vucic insisted that the raids were intended to scare Kosovo's Serb minority.

🎥 Kosovo police escort an officer who was arrested in today's operation targeting organised crime suspects in northern Kosovo into a police station in Pristina.

Media report at least 10 people have been arrested, including numerous police officers. pic.twitter.com/s0rVeimGR3

— Balkan Insight (@BalkanInsight) May 28, 2019

Four policemen are reported to have been injured in altercations, one of them reportedly wounded by a gunshot, while Serbs in the village of Zubin Potok set up barricades and set tyres on fire to deter police officers.

The number of people arrested remains unclear, with Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli saying that 15 Serbs and Albanians were detained, and Serbian President Vucic saying 23 Serbs and Bosnians have been held.

According to Vucic, Kosovo police also arrested one Russian citizen, Mikhail Krasnoshchenkov, who works for the UN's Kosovo mission, UNMIK. "We already informed...